Remembering Hotsy: The chili loses its spice

Neil Vigdor

Published 11:55 pm, Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Photo: David Ames, ST

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Garden Catering employee Frank "Hotsy" Bertino greets regular customer Tom Wilcox July 8, 2011. After 60 years in the food service business in Greenwich, Bertino died of natural causes Tuesday night, Nov. 20, 2012, at Greenwich Hospital, according to his family. The Cos Cob resident was 91. less

Garden Catering employee Frank "Hotsy" Bertino greets regular customer Tom Wilcox July 8, 2011. After 60 years in the food service business in Greenwich, Bertino died of natural causes Tuesday night, Nov. 20, ... more

Photo: David Ames, ST

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Garden Catering employee Frank "Hotsy" Bertino, left, keeps an eye out for customers along with Mike Paoletta, center, and Frank Carpenteri during the morning breakfast rush July 8, 2011. After 60 years in the food service business in Greenwich, Bertino died of natural causes Tuesday night, Nov. 20, 2012, at Greenwich Hospital, according to his family. The Cos Cob resident was 91. less

Garden Catering employee Frank "Hotsy" Bertino, left, keeps an eye out for customers along with Mike Paoletta, center, and Frank Carpenteri during the morning breakfast rush July 8, 2011. After 60 years in the ... more

Known as "Hotsy" to his legion of admirers, from modern-day Garden Catering to the everyman haunt once known as The Oasis that he owned with his late brothers, Bertino died of natural causes Tuesday night at Greenwich Hospital, according to his family. He was 91.

His friends remembered the longtime Cos Cob resident and Purple Heart recipient for his sweat equity in the kitchen, gregarious demeanor, love of family, military valor and athletic prowess as a youngster, from the boxing ring to the golf course.

And his chili.

"He just made the best damn chili," said Stanley Thal, a longtime member and former president of the Sound Beach Volunteer Fire Department in Old Greenwich. "He put chili in everything. You had it with your eggs, your soup, your breakfast sandwich."

The firehouse is a block away from Garden Catering, where Bertino defied his age and worked the graveyard shift for most of his 22 years at the popular takeout place, the final chapter of six decades in the food business.

Garden Catering, which also has locations on Hamilton Avenue in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk, Fairfield, Port Chester, N.Y., and Mamaroneck, N.Y., named a breakfast sandwich after him. The Hotsy is an amalgamation of bacon, egg, cheese, potatoes and, of course, chili.

The breakfast rush Wednesday was bittersweet for Garden Catering owner Frank Carpenteri Sr., who regarded Bertino as a family member.

"It's hard to not think of it because all morning I'm listening to `Gimme two Hotsies,' " Carpenteri said. "He was the backbone. Everybody was used to seeing him, especially the morning group."

Along with his later brothers, Edward and Paul Bertino, the man known as Hotsy for many years owned The Oasis, a food magnet for blue-collar types located on West Putnam Avenue.

"As a young landscaper, we'd go in there for lunch," Selectman David Theis said. "I have never seen anybody make a cup of coffee faster than he did. It was like he had three hands. He was truly a remarkable man in that sense. He was a local legend."

Bertino was the cousin of state Rep. Alfred Camillo, R-151st District.

"He was what Greenwich used to be," Camillo said. "It was all mom-and-pop stores. Hotsy came to symbolize that."

Camillo remembered Bertino as tireless.

"He just was always on the go," Camillo said. "He was a character. He was a townie in every sense of the word."

Born July 11, 1921, in South Norwalk, Hotsy told Greenwich Time in a 2007 interview that he acquired his nickname from a "quick temper" as a teen. He later fought in amateur boxing matches in Rye, N.Y., under the moniker "Kid Hotsy."

After returning from World War II, he joined his brothers at Pat's Hubba Hubba on West Putnam Avenue in 1946. He later ran a concession stand at the Griffith E. Harris Golf Course from 1984 to 1988, before "retiring."

"My dad enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren. He loved everybody," said Bertino's daughter, Jackie Fabricatore, of Stamford.

Bertino is also survived by his wife, Angelina Bertino of Cos Cob; a son, Frank Bertino Jr. of Cos Cob; two stepsons, Carmine and Theodore Coppola, both of Pompano Beach, Fla.; a sister, Penny Ferris of Spring Hill, Fla.; and four grandchildren.

A memorial will be held at a future date and burial is private.

At Garden Catering, Thal said Bertino would leave the light on during the graveyard shift for firefighters returning from calls.